The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus preferably applied as a copying machine, a printer or the like.
There is an image forming apparatus provided with a waste toner case collecting a toner (hereinafter, called as a “waste toner”) remained on a photoreceptor after a toner image is transferred on a sheet.
For example, the image forming apparatus includes the waste toner case and a transmissive optical sensor. The waste toner case has a thin wall part protruding from a case main body in which the waste toner is stored. The optical sensor has a light projection part and a light reception part arranged at positions interposing the thin wall part from both sides. In this image forming apparatus, light from the light projection part is transmitted through the thin wall part and received by the light reception part. When the inside of the thin wall part is filled with the waste toner, the waste toner obstructs the light from the light projection part. Therefore, a fill state (a replacement time) of the waste toner case is detected. The waste toner case with a filled waste toner is detached by a user from a placed part arranged in a cover.
In the image forming apparatus, the waste toner case is temporarily placed to the placed part. The waste toner case has a positioning part. The cover has a pressuring part. The waste toner case is positioned and fixed by the positioning part and pressuring part in accordance with a close operation of the cover. Then, a collecting port of the waste toner case is connected to a conveying pipe.
However, in the above-mentioned image forming apparatus, it is difficult to correctly detect the fill (replacement) of the waste toner case by the optical sensor. For example, in a case where an installation place is irradiated with sunlight or the like case, the optical sensor reacts to strong light transmitted through the cover. Therefore, the fill detection of the waste toner case is not carried out with accuracy.
In addition, the above-mentioned image forming apparatus is provided with a dedicated member in order to position and fix the waste toner case to the cover.